Understanding the American South

Lacy K. Ford is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina, where he served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2016–2020. The author of two prize-winning books, he has also been interviewed by The New York Times, CBS Evening News, CNN, and NPR's All Things Considered.

Introduction; Part I. Understanding the American South and the Civil War in a New Century: 1. A twenty-first century meaning for the American Civil War: a post-Cold War reflection; Part II. Understanding the South and the American Identity: 2. The liberal tradition: southern exceptionalism, the Civil War, and the future of American liberalism; 3. The 'genius of American politics': The South, ideology, and American identity; 4. The 'People of Plenty': abundance and the American South in the age of inequality; Part III. Understanding Slavery, Race, and Inequality in the American South: 5. The problem of slavery reconsidered: the South, the nation, and a reflection on 'the travail of slavery'; 6. The legacy of W. E. B. DuBois: slavery and race in southern and American history; 7. An American elegy: the South during the ages of capital and inequality; 8. Transforming southern history: the role of women historians; 9. Fraying fabric of community: the unraveling of southern white working-class culture; Part IV. Understanding History and Irony: 10. The irony of southern history and the problem of innocence in American life.